A little extra fun on Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!,

[cobright]

First ride of the day. Fastpass. No wait. So far so good.

We get in and the ride kicks off. We go up, down, up, down ... you know the drill.

Then ... the audio stops. Lights come up we start dropping slowly. The rides not over but it seems to be ending anyway. A notably not-pre-recorded voice comes over our speaker telling us we have an unscheduled ride stoppage and not to worry. And then she mentions that she can hear and see us... which felt like a weird thing to say at the time.

Door opens and there's 2 attraction cast members and 2 black jumpsuit security staff. The attraction staff steps in and let's two people in the front row know their belts will release and then asks them to follow them out. Two more people in front to row pipe up and say they were all together, so they were let out as well. Off they went with the jumpsuit fellows.

A few seconds later, the CMs come back and say something to the effect of, "We just wanted to let you know that the ride was not stopped because of a breakdown or malfunction. We stopped the ride because the two guests had defeated the safety restraints to allow them to rise further above their seats on the drops."

She started to tell us how that was a safety issue for them and us as well if they came loose and landed on another guest... but at that point we let her know that we fully grasped the situation. No hard feeling for the ride stoppage on our end at all.

Then they started us up again from the beginning. Great ride.

 

[MommaBerd]

Wow! What an experience!

 

[cruisehopeful]

That's awesome that they could tell what was going on.

 

[MacMama0930]

First ride of the day. Fastpass. No wait. So far so good.

We get in and the ride kicks off. We go up, down, up, down ... you know the drill.

Then ... the audio stops. Lights come up we start dropping slowly. The rides not over but it seems to be ending anyway. A notably not-pre-recorded voice comes over our speaker telling us we have an unscheduled ride stoppage and not to worry. And then she mentions that she can hear and see us... which felt like a weird thing to say at the time.

Door opens and there's 2 attraction cast members and 2 black jumpsuit security staff. The attraction staff steps in and let's two people in the front row know their belts will release and then asks them to follow them out. Two more people in front to row pipe up and say they were all together, so they were let out as well. Off they went with the jumpsuit fellows.

A few seconds later, the CMs come back and say something to the effect of, "We just wanted to let you know that the ride was not stopped because of a breakdown or malfunction. We stopped the ride because the two guests had defeated the safety restraints to allow them to rise further above their seats on the drops."

She started to tell us how that was a safety issue for them and us as well if they came loose and landed on another guest... but at that point we let her know that we fully grasped the situation. No hard feeling for the ride stoppage on our end at all.

Then they started us up again from the beginning. Great ride.

We’re they young kids who accidentally “defeated” the safety restraints or were they people purposely trying to do it? I’m trying to figure out they would that?

 

[gottalovepluto]

There is no hope for humanity.

 

[Malcon10t]

We’re they young kids who accidentally “defeated” the safety restraints or were they people purposely trying to do it? I’m trying to figure out they would that?

Usually not. I know how they do it, I won't say here. But they are usually revoked (tickets or APs) and escorted off property. Disney takes it serious. They have the shafts on video and watch each ride.

 

[cobright]

In hindsight the two who did it were behaving just a little ... conspiratorial I guess is the word.

Age in the 18 to 20 if I'm guessing.

My wife and I were actually debating their fate as we left the ride. She thinks they got a 6 month to year suspension at least. I guessed ejection for the day if a first time but I'm coming around to a more draconian view.

 

[Molly Meow]

Something similar happened to us too a few years ago when the ride was still Tower of Terror. I was sitting on the inside end of a row and noticed the woman sitting across from me looked scared. We joked about holding each other's hands. Ride starts, suddenly stops. The lights stayed off, no one talked to us, we were all just holding our breath confident that it would suddenly resume. The woman across from me said "I think I need my hand held now!" After 3-4 minutes of us all getting more and more agitated a CM came on and reassured us it was not anything to be concerned about. A few minutes later they turned on the lights and lowered us slowly. Security was there when the doors opened. Turned out that two teenage girls in the back row were putting their feet up during the drops and the CMs were understandably worried that their feet would come down on someone's head. I got the impression that it hadn't occurred to the girls that their actions might hurt someone.

They had us all unbuckle and rebuckle our seatbelts and sent us through again.

 

[Niltiac]

I had ToT stop for the same reason once, but they didn't escort the guests off. They were young teens and they were with their mother who didn't look very happy with them when the CM said why the ride was stopped. Maybe they figured that was punishment enough. The CM chatted with us for a minute about the kinds of things they've seen on the videos monitoring the rides, and then we all got to start the ride over.

 

[LilyJC]

Completely different ride, but I can’t even remember how many times we’ve been on the Silly Symphony Swings and had guests removed for ignoring CMs warnings about twisting the swings.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

This was one of the most interesting posts I've read in a long time. I love this ride but I have a healthy fear of it and would never think of "defeating" my seat belt.

 

[Kender]

Those safety rules are there for a reason. Good to know the CMs were so vigilant and I appreciate even more they explained the real reason. It was a good lesson.

Worst I've had was something sharp hit me in the back mid ride. Figured out after ride was done that a sea shell had landed on me. No idea where it came from and no one owned up to having lost a shell when I asked, but was yet another lesson to secure yourself and your items properly.

 

[momof2n2]

This was one of the most interesting posts I've read in a long time. I love this ride but I have a healthy fear of it and would never think of "defeating" my seat belt.

THIS. I love amusement park rides, but I don't think they are risk free. I'm not exaggerating when I say I thought I was going to die on a ride at Canada's Wonderland last year. Scared the socks of my whole family. Enjoying the ride means leaving without injuries IMO!

 

[cmpeter]

I've seen videos on YouTube of folks riding TOT without their seat belts fastened. Not something I would ever attempt...I've seen how far up my crossbody bag floats up on the drops, I certainly don't want my body doing that!

 

[ashley0139]

I'm trying to figure out, not how they did it, but WHAT they did. Did they make it so that the seatbelt was looser so they would come up a bit, or was the seatbelt not fastened at all?

I remember when they used to have (at least at WDW TOT) the row long lap bars instead of individual seatbelts. When I was a kid, I LOVED going on the ride with adults because there was always space for me to fly up just a little bit. Made it even more fun.

 

[sherilaine]

I am glad to read that Disney takes these things seriously. One of the main reasons being that these people who think it's fun to test the rules would turn around and try to sue them when they are hurt or they hurt someone else. Most people do not appreciate how their actions can cost them or someone else a LOT of money. You tamper with the safety of a ride then you should be banned.

 

[ashley0139]

Also, OP, just curious, did you get the same song the second time?

 

[cobright]

The drops were impressive. My frozen musical seating package lanyard left me completely. Right up off my head. Had to reach up and pull it out of the air. Would not have wanted to be up there with it.

I'm trying to figure out, not how they did it, but WHAT they did.

It has to do with not letting the belt retract all the way after clicking it into the buckle. I don't know how exactly they accomplish it. I'm certain I could figure it out if I cared to but wow... I do not. The end result , ideally for these riders, would have been more room to rise above the seat.

just curious, did you get the same song the second time?

Same ride experience except we got to see it all the second time.

 

[dina444444]

I had something sorta similar happen when it was still ToT. We got stopped at the very top on what should have been the last drop and it took them about 15 minutes to lower us down. Person came on and said we can hear and see you etc. once we were lowered the family sitting next to me in the front row (mom, dad and adult son) were walked out and everyone else received an attraction re-admit pass. Apparently the adult son who was sitting in thesest next to the door put his hand or foot somewhere around the door that triggered a safety stop.

 

[ddwlms]

Last time I was on GOG I had a thick, waist length coat on. I pulled the coat out of the seat belt at the last minute, -completely unaware of the effects, and I felt like I came out of my seat a good 3 inches. It might not have been 3 inches, but when my body caught up to the seat, I had had enough space to turn slightly, - the left "corner" of my hip touched the seat first. It was pretty crazy. I never felt endangered, it was just amazing to me. I've probably never laughed so hard on the ride.

It makes me wonder how far you have to rise above your seat for them to notice. And I thought that the CMs looked for people stopping the belt from retracting. ??